Overview
- Sky News found 24 of the 63 councils offered deferrals have asked to postpone May votes by a year.
- Eighteen of the requesting councils are Labour-led, with two Conservative, two Liberal Democrat, one Green and one independent administrations.
- Ministers hold the final say on any deferrals, with announcements expected shortly after the request deadline passed at midnight.
- Electoral Commission chief Vijay Rangarajan warned that capacity constraints are not a legitimate reason to delay long‑planned elections and cautioned about public confidence.
- Reform UK leader Nigel Farage is preparing a legal challenge, while FT analysis reported by the Daily Mail suggests delays could help Labour retain at least nine councils.